What's Up With Apple: iPhone Production Cuts, New Macs Coming and More

Technology

Published: October 13, 2021 7:43 am

While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been able until now to dodge the chip shortages that have slowed production of everything from new cars to LED light fixtures, the day finally may have come when the world’s largest company got tagged.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg cited unnamed sources who said that production of the new iPhone 13 models may fall short of 2021 projections by as many as 10 million units. Apple had expected to produce 90 million of the new iPhones in the company’s fiscal first quarter ending in December.

Bloomberg cited Morgan Stanley analyst Wamsi Mohan who said his firm “expect[s] Apple to come in below consensus.” Worse news may be coming for Apple suppliers like Skyworks, STMicro and Texas Instruments.

Apple’s share price dropped by 0.9% on Tuesday, and the stock traded down another 0.6% in Wednesday’s premarket to $140.63. Skyworks stock traded down nearly 3% in Wednesday’s premarket, although STMicro’s stock traded up by about 1.3%, probably due to expectations that high demand and low supply will lead to higher component prices. Texas Instruments shares dropped 2.5% on Tuesday and traded a bit lower before markets open Wednesday.

Apple, on Tuesday, posted an invitation for a hardware launch event that everyone expected. Called “Unleashed,” the event is scheduled for October 18 and will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The company is expected to launch new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models using a new version of its internally designed M1 chip called the M1X. A redesigned and higher-end Mac Mini is also likely to be launched, and third-generation AirPods are believed to be possible.

On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter cited a prediction from Digital TV Research projecting that by 2026, Disney+ will have more subscribers globally than Netflix and that both will have roughly eight times as many subscribers as Apple TV+. Disney’s streaming subscription service is expected to add 140 million subscribers to reach a total of 284.2 million by 2026. Netflix will add about 121 million to reach 270.7 million, and Amazon Prime is forecast to reach 243.4 million. Apple TV+ is forecast to have 35.6 million subscribers in 2026.

Apple is not the only tech giant to go after Epic Games. On Monday, Alphabet/Google sued the Fortnite maker for violating the rules of the Google Play store. The lawsuit follows a filing by Apple last month, challenging a portion of a ruling in federal district court ruling last month, that would force Apple (and Google) to allow app developers to avoid listing fees of as much as 30% in the App Store.